Indians banning religious converstions

[Reza_Pahlavi]

Re: Indians banning religious converstions

@Lahore 981

Read about the strength of Hinduism, which the Indians claim has sustained itself. They are making laws to ban conversions to stop people leaving Hinduism. And then they blame Pakistan for “ethnic cleansing” after a small incident of a Hindu girl converting for the sake of her love…

Religious rights take a hit in India

**A southern state last week banned ‘forced’ conversions. Critics say it targets minorities.
**
CHENNAI, INDIA – Here in India’s southernmost state of Tamil Nadu, a state ordinance banning “forced” religious conversions is setting up the conditions for a clash between the state’s religious minorities and majority Hindu community.

On its face, the new law – which went into effect last Thursday and which punishes offenders with up to four years in prison – does not specify any particular religious group as its target. But members of Tamil Nadu’s small minority communities – Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists – say the law is aimed at preventing lower-caste Hindus from converting to other religions.

Regardless, the debate’s intensity reveals the extent to which religious and caste identity have become driving forces of this country. “In Indian society, there are two registers,” says Dipankar Gupta, an anthropologist at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. “On the political register, we don’t recognize that the caste system exists, but on the social register, we do see caste differences.”

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http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1029/p06s01-wosc.html

Poor Hindu’s - what are they scared of?